Tuesday, January 22, 2008-
In light of recent news about UFOs out of nearby Stephenville, Texas, Marc Rouleau, director of the Planetarium at UT Arlington, says tens of thousands of school children visit the facility every year and one of the most popular questions is: “Are UFO’s real?”

"So, to answer to your question: yes, they are here."

Technically, the answer is “yes,” since “UFO” really stands for “Unidentified Flying Object.” If you look up and see something you don’t recognize, it’s a UFO.

This does not imply that the object is an alien spacecraft, however. Most objects that get fingered as UFO’s turn out to have easy explanations. A bright planet, like Venus, has fooled many casual sky watchers, Rouleau said. Atmospheric phenomena, like lenticular clouds, can make many people stop and pause.

Some UFOs have turned out to have more of a human origin. There have been cases of secret aircraft being tested by the military that were viewed by civilians on the ground. In other cases, hoaxers were deliberately trying to fake a UFO sighting.

"In the 'old days' this maybe meant rigging up a pie plate," Rouleau said, "suspending it from a wire, and taking its picture."

"Today, computer animation software and a worldwide audience through YouTube is all you need," he continued. "Even if no easy explanation comes up, there are reasons why a lot of people are skeptical about aliens visiting Earth. The distances between stars are so great."

The next closest star system to our Solar System is 25 trillion miles away. That’s so far away that the fastest robotic spacecraft ever launched by humans would need over 50,000 years to make the trip. Even light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, takes years to make the trip.

"Since nothing can accelerate faster than light, any creature that wanted to fly from Alpha Centauri to Texas would need to commit to at least several decades for a one-way trip," Rouleau said.